Hoisting mechanism



n. F. LEP'LEY.

HOISTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.A22| 1921.

Patented June 13, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

D. F. LEPLEY. A

HOISTING MECHANISNI. APPucAnoN. FILED 1AN,.22, 1921.

Patented June 13, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

'D. F. LEPLEY.l

HOISTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 1'AN.22, 1921.

Patented June 13, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

D. F. LEPLEY.

HolsuNG MEcHAmsM.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.22, |921.

Patented .Time 13, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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HOTSTNG- MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June t3, 1922.-

Application iled January 22, 1921. Serial No. 439,207.

To all w/Lom t may concerti.

Be it known that l, DANIEL F. LnrLnY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Connellsville, in the county of ayette and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Hoist-ing Mechanism, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for hoisting mine cages and thelike, one of its objects being to provide mechanism for slowing down andstopping heavy high speed electric and steam hoists where, after thepower is shut oli, the drift of the hoist and cages is very pronounced,and during which interval the load on a large alternating current hoistmotor is so reduced that the magnetic control has practically no speedreducing effect on it. For this reason it has become almost a universalpractice among hoist operators to shut off the motor controller entirelytwo or three seconds earlier than the predetermined hoist cycle demands,thus to allow the hoist and cages to drift from that point to thelanding to insure safety. As soon as the power, is shut oil', however,the hoist begins to slow down and in most cases the retardation periodis practically double so that there is a corresponding reduction in thecapacity of the hoist.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means wherebythe operator is enabled to maintain the maximum hoist speed throughoutthe entire allotted cycle with the certainty that the hoist i ill stopitself automatically and gradually within the allotted slow-down periodbefore the cages reach the danger point.

Another object is to provide mechanism of this character which willoperate even though the operator should pay no attention atall to thehoist after he has once started it.

A further object is to provide means adapted to be controlled by theoperator whereby he is enabled to bring the cages to the landing easilyand without loss of time.

Another object is to provide means whereby when men are to loe-hoistedfrom a shaft bottom the mechanism can be so shifted as to preventaccidents by insuring proper landing of the cages.

A still further object is to provide means whereby when the cages areused for hoisting men, they can be caused to travel at a reduced speed.

`With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdcscribed and claimed, it being understood that, within the scope ofwhat is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the inventionshown can be made without departin from the spirit of the invention.

In t e accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.l

In said drawings Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of themechanism consitituting the present invention, apart of the hoist beingindicated by dotted lines. i

Figure 2 .is a side elevation of the remaining portion of the mechanism.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the mechanism showing the parts adjustedto the position assumed when men are to be hoisted, the signal mechanismbeing illustrated in diagram.

Figure 4- is a view partly inside elevation and partly in sectionof aportion of the mechanism. j

Figure 5 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6, Figure t.

Figure 7 is a section on line Z-J, Figure 3 showing, in plan, thereduced speed mechanism.

Figure 8 is an enlarged section on line 8-8, Figure 3. v

Figure 9 is a detail view of one of the tripping cams.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference l designates thedrum of the hoist driven by a suitable collar element in the form of a`motor M which transmits motion through gears G to the drum, these gearsconstituting the driving mechanism. The drum is adapted to transmitmotion through a train of gears 2 to a transverse shaft 3 having a. gear4: which meshes with a gear 5 on one end of a longitudinal shaft 6. Thisshaft is journaled inv bearings 7 and is provided with a longitudinalkeyway 8 whereby a worm 9 is connected to the shaft so as to` rotatetherewith but slide thereon. This worm meshes with4 a rack bar l() whichis slidable between guide rails ll, there being a yoke l2 slidable onthe rails and straddling the worm 9 so that when the yoke is shiftedalong the rails the worm 9 will be moved therewith along the shaft 6,and, at the same time, the rack 10 will be moved with the worm. When theyoke 12 is stationary, however, and the shaft 6 is rotated the worm 9will impart right line movement to the rack 10 as will be obvious.

Secured to one end portion of the rack bar 10 is a cross-head 13 havingparallel rods 14 extending therefrom and slidable upon spaced chairs 15.Each of these rods 14 is slotted longitudinally as indicated at 16 inFigure 9 and has a. tripping cam 17 adjustably connected to it by meansof a screw 13 or in any other manner desired.

Journaled within ears 19 upstanding from the chairs 15 are pins 2O onwhich are mounted bell crank levers each including a stop arm 21 and atripping arm 22. The stop arm is extended upwardly while the trippingarm is extended along lines substantially parallel with the rod 14 andcarries a roller 23 at its free end which bears on the rod. The arms 22of the two bell cranks are extended away from each other and theupstanding stop arms 21 have their upper ends extended toward each otheras shown at 24 and terminating in heads 25. One pair of these stop arms21 is provided for the brake control lever 26 of the hoist mechanism andanother pair is provided for the engine control lever 27 of the hoistmechanism, it being understood that these levers which are fulcrumed onshaft 28', extend downwardly, one of them between the heads 25 on onepair of arms 21 while the other is between the heads 25 onthe other pairof arms. Two cams 17 are provided on each rod 14, one of these camsbeing initially positioned between the rollers 23 while the other isinitially positioned between the cross-head 13 and said rollers. `Thisposition of the cams has been indicated in Fig ure 1.

Extending laterally from the lower" ends ofthe levers 26 and 27 are eyes28 through which are loosely extended parallel rods 29 attached to therack bar 10. Each eye 28 is positioned between and spaced from a pair ofcollars 30 secured upon the rod in said eye and mounted on the rodbetween the collars 30 and the eye 28 are cushioning springs 31 and 32.

Pivotally connected to the yoke 12 is a bar 32 attached to one end of alever 33 the other arm of which is connected by a rod 34 to one end of ahand lever 35 which is normally held fixedly in its centen position bymeans of a heavy pawl 36 fitting into a quadrant 37 so as to hold thelever as indicated in Figure 1.

A hanger 38 provides a bearing for the fulcrumed shaft 28 on which thelevers are mounted and straddling this hanger is the from the shaft 41.

forked arm 39 of a lever 40 whiclr is secured to and supported by across-shaft 41. A pair of ears 42 is extended laterally from each memberof the forked end 39 and mounted in each of these ears is a set screw43, the screws being adjustable toward or from each other. The levers 26and 27 are provided on their inner sides with inwardly projecting lugs44 and when the forked arm of the lever 40 is raised these lugs will bepositioned between the screws 43 so that the movement of the levers 26and 27 will thus be limited by the screws. When the forked arm 39 is inits lowermost position, as indicated in Figure 1, however,` there willbe no limitation of the movement of the leversY by the screws becausethe screws will be located below the paths of the lugs 44. The lever 40can be actuated to raise the forked arm 39 by pushing through a rod 45upon one arm of a bell crank lever 46, the other arm of this leveroverhanging and being adapted to bear upon the lever so as to actuateit. The shifting of the lever 40 can be effected also by means of thelever 35. This lever has a link 47 connected to it and ex tending to thelower arm 43 of a bell crank lever. vThe upper arm of the bell cranklever is forked as indicated. at 49 and normally straddles a nose 50extending from an arm 51 which is secured to and depends Thus it will beseen that when the lever 35 is swung either to the right or to the leftfrom its central position it will operate the bell crank lever so as tocause one or the other members of the forked arm 49 to press against thenose 50 and swing the arm 51, thereby to raise the forked arm 39 oflever 40 and bring the screws 43 to raised or limiting positions.

With the parts in their normal positions as illustrated in` Figures 1and 2 the brake is released and the engine is operated so as to drivethe hoist at full speed as when hoisting coal or the like. As the drumrotates motion will be transmitted therefrom to the shaft 7 asheretofore explained so that the worm 9 will slowly move the rack 10longitudinally and set up a corresponding movement of the rods 14 and29. Thetripping cams 17 areso positioned that as the cage arrives 'atthe point where the slowing down should begin, one of the tripping cams17 will move under the wheel or roller 23 in the path thereof and moveupwardly thereby causing the arm 21 controlled by said roller to pressagainst the lever and swing said lever back to its central position. Asboth the levers 26 and 27 will thus be operated the power will begradually cut off and the brakes gradually applied, the timing of theparts being such as to bring the cage accurately to the proper stoppingplace. Obviously the mechanism will operate the same whether the cage isbeing raised or lowered, one of the tripping cams 17 operating to bringthe cage to a gradual stop at its upper landing and the other trippingcam operating to bring the cage to a gradual sto at its lower landing.

hould the operator receive a signal from the bottom of the shaft thatmen are to be hoisted in the cage, he promptly throws the lever 35 inthe direct-ion in which he intends to move the levers 26 and 2T. 1fdesired this movement of the lever can complete an electric circuit to alamp located at the bottom of the shaft. Such lamp will be a signal tothe eager that the mechanism is set to hoist men. As shown in diagram inF igure 3 this signal mechanism can include push buttons 52 or othersuitable switches located at the two limits of movement of the lever 35.Each of these buttons or switches is adapted to close a circuit to alamp indicated at 53. Thus when the lever is pushed against one buttonit will close the circuit to one lamp and when pushed against the otherbutton it will close the circuit to the other lamp. Vhen lever 35 isshifted in this manner away from its central or normal position itoperates the forked arm e9 of the bell crank lever so as to swing thelever 40 and elevate the stop screws 113 into the paths'of the ears 4K1.Thus when the levers 26 and 27 are shifted they cannot be moved the fulldistance but can only be moved far enough to set up a speed at which mencan be hoisted with safety. This same operation of the lever 35 willactuate the lever 33 and cause it to pull or push through the bar 32upon the yoke 12. Said yoke will thus slide the worm 9 along Lits shaft6 and at the same time slide the rack bar 10 so as to move the trippingcam 17 closer to the wheel 23 to be actuated thereby. Accordingly whenthe levers 26 and 27 are shifted their movement will not only be limitedin the manner hereinbefore pointed out but their lower end portions willbe brought to positions where they will be actuated sooner by the arms21 and brought baclr to their normal positions, because the trippingcams 17 will engage the rollers 23 at the proper time before the cagereaches the landing stage and insure the cage stopping gradually andsafely at the proper level. 1f the operator wants to reduce the speedwithout shifting the lever 35 he can do so by means of the rod 45 asheretofore explained. l

By providing the springs 31 they will just touch the lower ends of thelevers when said levers are brought to their central or intermediatepositions after the hoist has reached its limit of its movement ineither direction, these springs allowing the operator to move the leversslightly so as to cause the cages to move into their landing if broughtto a stop slightly therebelow. This arrangement of springs does notconstitute in itself any partof the present kinvention but has alreadybeen disclosed in other patents issued to me among which may bementioned No. 1,216,143 of February 13, 1917 and 1,358,378 of Novem ber9, 1920.

The lever 5a indicated by broken lines in Figure 1 does not constitute apart of the present invention but is merely a brake tightening leversuch as covered by Patent No. 1,358,379, issued to me on November 9,1920.

What is claimed is:

1. In hoisting mechanism the combination with engine and brake controllevers and a hoisting drum, of stop devices extending into the paths ofthe levers, slide rods, means operated by the drum for impartinglongitudinal movement to the rods, and cooperating means upon the rodsand the stop devices for shifting said devices to engage'and move thelevers back to hoist stopping positions.

. 2. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum and engine andbrake controlling levers, of tiltable stopdevices at opposite sides ofeach of the levers, slidable means for actuating the stop devices toshift the levers totheir hoist stopping positions, and means fortransmitting motion from the drum to said sliding means.

3. In hoisting mechanism the combination With a drum and engine andbrake controlling levers, of opposed stop arms movably mounted andarranged in pairs, one of said levers being extended between the arms ofone pair and the other lever between the arms of the other pair,slidable means movable in either direction for actuating the arms toengage and move the levers to hoist stopping position, and means forimparting longitudinal movement to said sliding means from the drum.

11. 1n hoisting mechanism the combination With a. drum and engine andbrake controlling levers, of slidable rods, means for transmittingmotion thereto from the drum, stop devices arranged in pairs and atopposite sides of the respective levers, and cooperating means upon thestop devices and said slidable rods for actuating the stop devices aftera predetermined movement of the slidable rods in either direction,thereby to restore the levers to their hoist stopping position.

5. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum and engine andbrake controlling levers, of movable means, means for transmittingmotion thereto from the drum, stop devices arranged in pairs and atopposite sides of the respective levers, and oooperating means upon thestop devices and said movable means for actuating the stop devices aftera predetermined movement of the movable means in either direction,thereby to restore the levers to their hoist stopping position, andmeans for bodily shifting the movable means to advance the actuation ofthe stop devices.

6. In hoisting mechanism the combination with adrum and hoistcontrollingl levers, of a shaft actuated by the drum, a worm feathered`on the shaft, a rack bar engaged and actuated by the worm, rods movablewith the bar, tripping cams carried by each of the rods, stop armsarranged in pairs, each of the levers projecting between two of thearms, and means actuated by the tripping cams for shifting the stop armsto move the levers to their hoist stopping positions, and means forshifting the `worm along its shaft to slide the rack and advance theactuation of the stop arms by the cams.

7. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum, and hoistcontrolling levers, of a shaft actuated by the drum, a Worm on theshaft, a rack bar engaged and actuated by the worm, rods movable withthe bar, tripping cams carried by each of the rods, stop arms arrangedin pairs, each of the levers projecting between two of the arms, andmeans actuated by the tripping cams for shift-ing the stop arms to movethe levers to their stopping positions. y

8. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum and hoistcontrolling levers, of pairs of opposed stop arms pivotally mounted, oneof said pairs being `provided for each lever, rods slidably mountedadjacent the arms, actuating cams upon the rods, means upon the stoparms and cooperating with said cams for shifting the stop arms after apredetermined movement of the rods to move the levers to their vhoiststopping position, and means operated by the drum for actuating therods.

9. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum and hoistcontrolling levers, of a shaft, a worm feathered thereon, a yokestraddling the worm and slidable' along the shaft, a rack engaged andactuated by the worm, rods connected to and movable with the rack,tripping cams connected to the rods, stop arms arranged in pairs, onepair being provided for each lever, the arms of each pair being atopposite sides ofthe lever, and means connected to the arms and actuatedby the cams for shifting the arms at predetermined points during themovement of the rods to swing the levers to their hoist stoppingposition, and `means under the control of the operator for shifting theyoke and worm to slide the `raclr and ad' vance or retard the actuationof the stop arms by the tripping camsa j 10. n hoisting mechanism thecombination with a drum, of opposed stop devices movably mounted, acontrolling lever proj ecting therebetween, a slidable rod, trippingcams upon the rod for actuating the stop devices to move the lever toits hoist stopping position, means for transmitting mo- 'tion to the rodfrom the drum, a projection on the lever, adjustable speed limitingmeans shiftable into and out of the path of the projection on the lever,a second lever, and separate means 'operated thereby for simultaneouslyshifting the rod bodily to advance or delay the actuation of thestopdevices by of the projection, a second lever, means op-` i `erating bythe movement of said second lever in either direction for raisingthestops into the path of the projection.I

l2. In hoisting` mechanism the combination with a drum and hoistcontrolling levers, of means operated by the drum for restoring thelevers automatically to their hoist stopping positions during the finalrotations of the drum at each operation of the hoist, and meansshiftable by the operator during the movement of the hoist for advancingthe actuation of the levers by the hoist.

13. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a drum and` hoistcontrolling levers, of means operated by the drum for restoring thelevers automatically to their hoist stopping positions during the finalrotations of the drum at each operation of the hoist, .and meansshiftable by the operator during the movement of the hoist, foradvancing the actuation of the levers by the hoist, and for limiting theactuation ofthe brake and engine controlling levers to brake release andengine operating positions.

le. In a hoisting mechanism for raising alternate loads, a drum, adriving mechanism,l a power element, automatic means for slowing downand stopping said power element, whenA the loads have reached theirregular terminals, and manually operated meansifor shifting said powerelement control means to automatically slow down and stop either loadwhen it has reached any predetermined terminal at a point earlier thanits regular stop. c

l5. In avhoist mechanism for raising alternate material loads to acertain fixed terminal and for hoisting men from certain xed points to'a regular terminal at a point lower than that to which materials arehoisted, a drum, a driving mechanism, a powerelement, means for themanual application of power to the power element to start the hoist,power control means, manual means for shifting the power control meansto automatically slow down and stop the power element to land men attheir predetermined terminal, and means actuated by llO said shiftingmovement for automatically displaying a suitable signal at the pointfrom which men are to be hoisted to prove to them that the slow down andstop means is properly set to stop the said power element at the rightpoint, before they signal the operator to start the hoist.

16. A hoist mechanism for handling men and materials between certainfixed points, including a drum, a driving mechanism, a power element7manual means for starting the power element, automatic means for slowingdown and stopping said power element at various points, automatic meansfor limiting the speed of the power element to any predetermined value,when the power elementI control means is shifted manually 'forautomatically slowing down and stopping the hoist when handling men.

17. In hoisting mechanism the combination with a hoist control lever anda hoisting drum, of stop devices extending into the In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiixed my signature in thepresence of two witnesses.

DANIEL I". LEPLEY.

litnesses:

W. H. SorssoN, BARNETT C. BURKHARDT.

